


Irresistible Fire

by TongueTiedRaven



Category: Ao no Exorcist | Blue Exorcist
Genre: Crushes, Falling In Love, First Kiss, Fluff, Gay Suguro "Bon" Ryuuji, Introspection, M/M, Okumura Rin's Flames, Requited Love, Romance, Suguro "Bon" Ryuuji has a crush, Suguro "Bon" Ryuuji is an over thinker
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-06
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-12 17:55:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29888331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TongueTiedRaven/pseuds/TongueTiedRaven
Summary: Bon had always been intrigued by fire. He’d felt guilty about that as a child, especially when so many people in his temple flinched away from it. He was frightened of it, of course. It was impossible to grow up in the wake of the blue night and not be a little scared of fire.It was more than that though. He couldn’t help it. He found fire mesmerizing despite its danger.Really, it was no surprise that he noticed Rin.He was fascinated by fire, but he wasn’t stupid enough to think he could have it. Fire was as dangerous as it was beautiful. It was something that couldn’t be tamed. It was destruction and chaos.Rin wouldn’t be any different.
Relationships: Okumura Rin/Suguro "Bon" Ryuuji
Comments: 10
Kudos: 61





	Irresistible Fire

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Geek_gettin_Bi101](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Geek_gettin_Bi101/gifts).



> Happiest of birthdays!!!!

Bon had always been intrigued by fire. He’d felt guilty about that as a child, especially when so many people in his temple flinched away from it. He was frightened of it, of course. It was impossible to grow up in the wake of the blue night and _not_ be a little scared of fire. 

It was more than that though. He couldn’t help it. He found fire mesmerizing despite its danger.

His fascination got him in trouble as a kid. Outside of his tendency to stare at candles, he also apparently liked to get too close to the holy fire. Though too close for his mom was over a meter away.

Bon liked the steadiness of fire. Flames were always warm and they burned in a set way. It wasn’t something that could be controlled, but it could be directed. It would behave according to certain rules, even if it didn’t always follow in the way you expected it to. Fire would always burn, it would always consume everything in its wake. You could count on its destructive quality.

It was something extremely dangerous if handled incorrectly, but it was containable if you were cautious. 

Really, it was no surprise that he noticed Rin. 

Bon first recognized the attraction at the camp-which was probably part of why he reacted like an idiot. They spent too much time setting up tents that Rin knocked right back over in his eagerness. He was an incorrigible two year old and Bon should not find it endearing. It was so obvious the teen had never been camping before and Bon, who had lived his life on a mountain, had spent a lot of time camping. It wasn’t exciting anymore but he almost felt the same thrill for it he had when he was little. 

They got the tents up-somehow- and started on the rest of the camp set up. Rin was distracted the entire time until he finally jumped up from where they were trying to start a fire and jogged across the circle to join the girls and take over the cooking.

Bon concentrated on the fire and had it roaring by the time Rin came over with the meal. He chose a seat near the flames and let them warm him as he accepted the meal. They danced before his eyes, nearly hypnotizing. Rin sat across from him, bathed in the orange light. He drew Bon’s eyes away from the flames in a way most things couldn’t. Rin looked right in the fire light. It accentuated the lines of his face and Bon had never realized just how sharp his cheeks were or how well his hair framed his face. They enhanced the shadows around him, making him seem like a light in the dark around them. Rin looked dangerous in the flickering glow.

He looked ethereal. 

Bon had promptly averted his eyes and blushed at the foreign thought. He blamed it on the fire and the strange day. 

That was bullshit, of course. 

He left the fire to grab drinks in hopes it would help clear his head. He made the _stupid_ mistake of calling out to Rin and asking what he wanted which had made him smile. His teeth flashed in the fire light, somehow deadly and cheerful.

Bon shook the strangeness off and focused on the drinks. 

He recognized it wasn’t a simple physical attraction in the fight against the Impure King. Looking at Rin through the fire barrier, everything hazy and orange, he realized he liked the halfling. It was like fire, warm and coaxing. Something that called to him and drew him in. 

Karura helped explain some of his fascination with fire. It was quite literally in his blood. It took a bit longer to come to terms with Rin though.

He was fascinated by fire, but he wasn’t stupid enough to think he could have it. Fire was as dangerous as it was beautiful. It was something that couldn’t be tamed. It was destruction and chaos.

Rin wouldn’t be any different. 

* * *

“Ryuuji!” Rin gushed, impertinent as ever. Bon said he couldn’t call him by his nickname and the halfling immediately switched to his first name. “Come on!”

“Come on what?” He demanded even though he probably should have just ignored Rin. He was heading to the library. Distractions were not something he could afford. 

“I wanna try a few new moves and need your help.”

“What?”

Rin grabbed his arm. “You’re the best Aria on the team. Please? I wanna see if I can do a barrier kinda like Karura did!”

It wasn’t a good idea to spend that much one on one time with Rin but if he could pull that off it’d be _so_ useful. There wasn’t any real question. Especially when Rin squeezed his arm and smiled all toothily at him.

“Please?”

Bon adjusted the grip on his bag and looked away from bright blue eyes. “Fine. But only for an hour.” He tried to make his voice gruff but it really just sounded tired. 

Rin didn’t seem to notice or he just didn’t care. “That’ll be enough for now.” He released Bon’s arm only to loop his arm around Bon’s shoulders and steer him towards the gym. “I kinda figured out the fire shield but I gotta get it bigger.”

“So why exactly do you need me?”

Rin’s arm squeezed him closer. “'Cause you’re the best at shields and dousing my flames.” He shrugged. “You don’t really seem scared of them?”

He _almost_ stopped walking. He managed to keep moving forward at the last second right before it became obvious he’d stopped. He wasn’t even sure why the words had sent a jolt of pure panic through his gut. They weren’t anything special. He wasn’t particularly scared of fire. He wanted to understand it and Rin, once you knew him, could never _really_ be scary. He was too goofy and kind hearted. His not being scared of Rin’s flames didn’t mean anything. It wasn’t suspicious. It wasn’t weird.

(It was such a bad idea to do this.)

They went to the training room of the gym. Bon drew a simple protective circle on the floor and stood in the middle of it while Rin did some stretches. Bon carefully did not watch the way he moved easily or the way the movements caused his shirt to slip up and show a thin strip of skin between his shirt and sweatpants. 

(Such a bad idea.)

Rin straightened abruptly and turned towards him with a large smile and his tail wagging through the air. “Ready, Ryuuji?” 

He wanted to tell him to stop calling him by his name but he didn’t want to explain why it was bothering him. He was trying not to think about it. 

(Seriously. Worst idea.)

“Ready, Okumura.” Rin’s tail drooped a little. He adopted a wider stance and suddenly, without any other warning, he was covered in flames. Panic shot up through Bon at the sight, like it always had but hopefully wouldn’t always, and he couldn’t breathe for a terrible second as Rin’s head tilted back. 

This was always the difficult moment. The stories he grew up hearing would surface as he watched his friend (crush) ignite and he’d forget about the son of Satan stuff and just _worry_ for Rin. 

He breathed and the fear passed. Now there was a different problem. 

Rin looked extraordinary in flames. They illuminated him so he became a bright beacon you couldn’t look away from. Every inch of him glew with the blue light, enhancing his delicate bone structure, making his hair look darker in contrast to his pale skin, and his eyes became something that couldn’t be ignored. They burned with the flames, a twist of red at their core as they gazed and drew you in. It was as deadly as a roaring fire, alluring and deadly. The brightness and warmth made you feel safe but it could devour everything without any effort.

Rin might not kill him but he was still dangerous. 

“Satan Shield!” Rin shouted like it wasn’t a lame name for his new move. The flames burning along his skin and hair flared brighter until there was an inferno of them surrounding the immediate area around him. They blazed up towards the ceiling, filling the air with smoke and the scent of sulfur, mixed with something slightly sweet that was specific to Rin’s flames. It was almost like a campfire but… safer.

(Such a _colossally_ bad idea.)

Rin closed his eyes-Bon sucked in a breath while the blue eyes were hidden - and the flames spread further away. They were almost in the shape of a dome now. It was an actual barrier. Rin was doing it. 

“Holy shit.” He couldn’t help the mutter of amazement. His father had spent a decade on the proper barrier spell but if Rin could master it -

Holy shit.

He stepped forward, still in the circle, and laughed. It was a giddy rush of excitement swelling up in his stomach and through his chest to spread down his limbs as he watched the dome grow larger and almost solid. 

Rin’s eyes slipped open, flames pouring off his face, and grinned. “Does it look right?”

“It looks perfect!”

Rin’s grin grew, fangs glinting in the firelight. “Come on over! I wanna see if I can let you in but keep the coal tars out.” 

(This was probably a worse idea than running after Rin and Amaimon.)

The stories of the blue night drifted through his mind again, mingling with the memories of Rin fighting demons and monsters with his own flames. Fire was deadly and could not be controlled. It could only be directed. 

Bon stepped outside of his protective circle and towards the new barrier. He closed his eyes as he walked, paused when he felt the heat of the flames, and opened his eyes again. Rin’s gaze was locked on him, smile still firmly in place, tail lifted in the air at excited alert. He stepped through the barrier and wasn’t burned. The flames heated his skin like holding your hands over a campfire. Something closer to comforting than frightening. Two more steps saw him next to Rin. 

The world looked blue inside the barrier. “You did it.” He murmured because it really was such an incredible achievement. 

Rin beamed and Bon couldn’t help but notice the flames around them surge higher into the air. “Pretty cool, huh?”

He was next to one of the most dangerous beings in Assiah. He was surrounded by the flames of Gehenna but he wasn’t afraid. 

He inhaled, a smile lifting his own lips. “Absolutely.”

Rin just made him feel safe and warm.

* * *

Bon’s mouth was coated in what he _hoped_ was just some weird dust and plant residue. There was absolutely some blood in there as well but it was impossible to hold a shield for as long as he had without _some_ blood. 

He spat whatever it was out and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Stepping to the edge of his circle, he moved his hands into the symbol of the Immovable One, held the pose as he began to chant, and slashed forward decisively. 

“Ānākkhettamhi sabbattha, Sabbadā sabbapāninam, Sabbaso pi nivāreti!” The nearest plant withered with the words of his spell and two more twisted towards him, writhing with unspeakable anger.

“You know,” Rin shouted over the din of the fight, “I really don’t think they like that one!”

Bon ignored him for a second and brought up another spiritual shield. He put it between himself and the quickly approaching plants as Rin leaped over his head. He was coated in blue flames, igniting the ground as he dashed across it and sending a torrent of flames towards the nearest plant. 

Bon tore his attention away from Rin’s blazing form, and focused back on his flickering shield. He shoved one hand forward to hold the shield in place as he repeated the chant. A second slash saw the third plant withering. Pain flared at the base of his skull from the dual focus and energy drain but it was nothing he hadn’t felt before. Bon could handle headaches. This burn was something that drove him harder.

He spit more of the filth out of his mouth and moved towards where Rin had advanced. 

“They don’t seem wild about your flames either!” He called while he scanned the area for any more of the plant creatures. Rin glanced over his shoulder, Kurikara glimmering with the blue flames, and grinned. His face was stretched in his transformed state, deadly and otherworldly but still, bizarrely, cheerful. 

(Only Rin could make the demonic look somehow cheerful.)

The halfling didn’t come back with a witty retort. Instead he rushed across the space separating them so they were side by side again. “There’s a behemoth ahead. Wanna take it on?”

Behemoths were brute forcers. They didn’t have a death verse and they packed a _hell_ of a punch. One wallop could knock you out for days. They had stupidly thick skin and were more resistant to fire than the plants. It was a bad matchup for Bon and probably a waste of Rin’s talents. 

Still, Rin’s eyes were glittering with blue fire and his grin was enormous. The thrill of running and the adrenaline of defending yourself and taking down powerful things was filling Bon's stomach. He felt incredible and it was a rush he didn’t want to lose quite yet.

(Rin had nothing to do with it.)

(And no. He didn’t believe that lie either.)

“Hell yeah!” He growled back, grin spreading across his own lips. Rin crowed with delight, slashed through a barrier of bramble and dove across the battlefield towards the awaiting behemoth. 

It was easily as large as Amaimon’s pet and _livid._ It bounded towards them with a bellow that blasted through Bon’s head, and made Rin wince visibly. Bon brought his hands together and sent a quick spell of muffling around them to help the halfling with the probably deafening noise. Rin’s hand brushed against his shoulder and then he was surging up, up into the air like he was flying, bright as a shooting star and radiating blue light to everything around. Bon kept the spell steady as he pulled his firearms free and moved towards Rin’s flank. He’d keep an eye on his blind spot and let the halfling take point. 

He laid down an array of covering fire, shouting out any useful spell that came to his mind as Rin landed on the top of the behemoth. The creature reared back on its hind legs and fell to the ground, trying to squash Rin. The halfling ducked out of the way at the last moment. Bon raced forward, shooting the behemoth in his left foot and switching to a binding spell. 

“How many chants do you think you know?” Rin called out like there wasn’t a demon the size of a pick up truck trying to roll over on top of him. 

“Does that really matter?”

“Come on,” Rin teased, flames bright as he jumped on top of the demon and stabbed at its stomach. He dodged its flying paws and struck at its stomach again, “just give me a ballpark number.”

“Genuinely don’t know.” He shouted back between phrases of the binding spell. He had the left, rear leg stuck and moved onto the right one. If he could hold it in place they could banish it.

“Gotta be at least a hundred.” Rin mused, dodging another attack and flipping off the behemoth. He sent a wave of flames behind Bon and towards a gathering of plants he hadn’t noticed. 

“Closer to a thousand, I’d say.” 

“Wow!” Rin was at his side again, blazing and almost hot. “That’s so cool! What does this one do?” 

Bon finished the chant, made a chain with his fingers, and broke it to complete the spell. Rin watched him with wide eyes and the excitement in his chest got larger. Rin just brought it out in him. He was reckless in every way but, god, he made Bon feel alive when he fought. It was a wild thrill that made you aware of every breath and made it seem possible to defeat impossible odds. It was probably dangerous but Bon loved the high anyway. 

“Binding spell. As long as I can focus he can’t get up.” 

Rin sent another covering of flames behind him. “So if you stay safe he can’t move?” 

“If I stay _focused.”_ He moved to the side so he could see the third leg. “Getting hit won’t break it unless I-”

His words faded out as Rin burned brighter, flames shooting around them until he was surrounded in a blazing dome. 

“Getting hit isn’t an option, Ryuuji.” Rin’s hand brushed down from his shoulder to his elbow and, before Bon could respond to any of that, Rin was dashing towards the behemoth again. 

“Damn-” He cut the curse off and focused on the foot instead. Rin would stay safe. He wasn’t something you could control. You could only send him in the right direction. 

(He was chaos and vibrant life.)

He could hear the plants shuffling behind him but the barrier stayed ablaze, keeping him safe as he bound the behemoth back to the earth and watched Rin take it down.

* * *

If it was ever going to happen, he would have expected it to happen in a moment like that. Something wild and uncontrolled and _deadly._ A spur of the moment thing driven more on emotion and thrill than thought. 

But Rin was chaos and warmth and Bon was never going to be great at predicting him. 

Bon was sitting in front of a fireplace, watching the flames lick at the logs. He was stuck staring at the fire because he couldn’t quite look away. Their ever changing flickering that was still somehow formulaic just pulled him in. You could _almost_ predict what they were going to do but they always went wild at the last second and did something unexpected. He watched the flame grow larger before breaking off and dissipating into the air, the crackles growing louder as a trail of smoke went up the chimney.

“Ryuuji?”

Bon startled, his heart pounding from the surprise, and turned to see Rin crouching next to him with a mildly alarmed frown. “You okay?”

He offered the halfling a (hopefully) easy smile. “I’m good.”

Rin sat properly beside him. “You sure?”

He shrugged and turned his gaze back to the fire. It was dangerous looking at Rin in firelight. He still looked ethereal in the warm glow of the flames. 

“Just thinking.”

Rin stretched out his feet, warming his toes by the fire. “You do that a lot, you know.”

“What?”

“Stare at flames. I used to think it was ‘cause you were scared. Kinda bummed me out ‘cause I thought you’d get really weirded out about the satan flame thing.” 

“They don’t scare me.”

Rin nodded and gave him a quick smile that made his fangs flash in the firelight. “I know that _now.”_ He stared back at the fire, smile slipping into an almost thoughtful expression. “What is it though?”

Bon rested his face against his knee and wrapped his arms around it. He had to be careful here. “Fascination.”

“With fire?”

“Yeah. I… I have a weird relationship with it.”

Rin worried his lip. “Cause of the blue night?”

Bon nodded and tried not to focus on the way Rin’s teeth pulled at his lip. “Yeah. I grew up hearing about how deadly it was and feeling guilty because it was always cool to me. I like the way it’s unpredictable.” 

“Doesn’t that just make it scary?” 

Bon shrugged and shifted so he could rest his chin on his knee instead of his cheek. “A little? But unpredictable isn’t the same as dangerous. You can brace yourself for it. ‘Sides, fire isn’t just something destructive. It’s warmth. It’s light. It’s wild and freeing.” 

(Probably shouldn’t have said all that. It gave away more than he wanted.)

“Dangerous too.” Rin’s voice was low and his tone was almost pensive. “You can’t really trust it.”

Bon had a weird and sudden feeling that they weren’t talking about the fire and that Rin had never been talking about it. He couldn’t be sure but he didn’t want Rin to fall down that dark thought trail. Even if it was dangerous and deadly, he wouldn’t leave Rin to burn.

“I wouldn’t say that. Sure, fire can be dangerous-anything can be dangerous - but it’s saved my life several times. I’ve always found the more you learn about it, that…” He trailed off and tried to pull his courage together. “Fire becomes irresistible.” 

He could _feel_ Rin watching him now. It was too strong of a sensation to keep his eyes on the fire. He glanced over and got caught in blue, burning eyes.

(His fate had been sealed the moment he'd glanced at Rin through the flames.)

Rin’s right hand curved around his jaw and there was all the time in the world to move away as Rin leaned towards him, blue eyes darting between his own, face utterly determined. He could move and be (moderately) safe from the flames. He could leave and be friend’s and not worry about being burned.

But Bon had always been drawn to everything that fire was and he didn’t move an inch. His eyes slipped close as Rin’s lips pressed against his. Heat unfurled in his chest, exploding from his heart as Rin’s left hand reached up to cup his other cheek. 

Bon returned the kiss, of course. Rin still looked ethereal in fire and he was helpless to resist him.

* * *

One of the first things he learned in being with Rin was that his boyfriend spent a lot of time at least partially on fire. 

His hair lit when he was happy or embarrassed, his tail lit when he was angry, his head and shoulders if he was sad, and when he was really lost in an emotional moment-it didn’t matter what kind - his entire body would shimmer with flames.

When Bon kissed him? Rin would glow. 

Rin Okumura personified fire. He was brightness-no one could meet Rin and not think he was bright. That tooth-filled smile personified brightness and it wasn’t just that Bon was biased. Which, yeah, he absolutely was. Rin’s soul was bright as well. Vibrant and kind and determined to change the world. He was the warmth of sitting by a fire after a long day, and the safety of the hearth. He was the wildness of a forest fire and the spark of energy on cold nights. 

Fire was dangerous and unpredictable, but it was entirely irresistible.

Or maybe it was just Rin. Either way, Bon was happy.

**Author's Note:**

> So, funny fact about me? I am actually _quite_ scared of fire. It's gorgeous to watch but I will start shaking if you force me near it, lol. 
> 
> I hope you have a really great day, Pax!


End file.
